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Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel is a superhero who protects Fawcett City and a former member of the Justice League. History Billy Batson is a young boy who by saying the magic word "SHAZAM" becomes the powerful and popular crime-fighter Captain Marvel. Still coming into his own as a young super-hero, Billy would strive to follow the example of his favorite hero: Superman. To his credit, Captain Marvel quickly became respected and admired, both in his home of Fawcett City and beyond. He was eventually extended an invitation to join the expanded Justice League. Billy believes in fair play, taking people at their word and giving them the benefit of the doubt, an optimistic viewpoint that very often borders on naiveté (but then, he's still in grade school.) He attends C.C. Binder Elementary School.Named in tribute to C.C. Beck, creator of the Captain Marvel character and Beck's longtime collaborator Otto Binder. Known Adventures Billy's youthful chattiness and cheerful outlook led to an unwitting public endorsement of Lex Luthor's candidacy for the President of the United States of America. This immediately brought him a stern reprimand from the League and Superman in particular. Though impressed by Marvel's powers, Superman was rubbed the wrong way by Billy's seemingly simplistic sense of right and wrong. Batman would note that Captain Marvel seemed exceedingly "sunny." During a groundbreaking ceremony to commemorate "Lexor City," Lex Luthor's high-tech low-income housing complex of the future, Superman detected what he believed to be a destructive device far below the grounds. Despite Luthor's assurances that the machine was harmless, Superman attempted to shut it down. He was opposed by Captain Marvel, and in an uncharacteristic show of frustration and anger, Superman attacked the younger hero. The battle destroyed much of Lexor City, and ended when Marvel attempted to harm Superman with his magical thunderbolt one time too many. The charge reverted Marvel back into Billy Batson, and Superman was able to destroy the device. However, Superman's accusation was proven false by the Atom, and the Man of Steel was publicly embarrassed. His humiliation was further compounded when Lex took the loss in stride before television cameras, and offered to construct Lexor City out of his own pocket... for a second time. Naturally, the entire situation had been purposely created by Luthor and Amanda Waller; in fact it had gone even better than planned. After the Lexor City debacle, a disillusioned Captain Marvel quit the Justice League. He felt that the League was sinking to their enemies' level and that they no longer acted "like heroes." He returned to Fawcett City to resume his solo career. Powers and Abilities Billy Batson, an average 10-year-old student in his secret identity, takes the (approximately) 30-year-old metahuman form of Captain Marvel by speaking a magic word: "Shazam!" This brings a mystical thunderbolt from the sky, which will transform him to Captain Marvel and later back into Billy. His powers are a general match for Superman's, minus heat vision and X-ray vision. In his battle with Superman, Captain Marvel demonstrates that the two are approximately equal in terms of physical abilities. Marvel possesses a very high level of superhuman strength and is generally invulnerable, and he can move and fly at incredible speeds. He can also use the magical thunderbolt as a weapon by saying "Shazam" and then moving his target into the thunderbolt's path. This tactic allowed him to hurt Superman twice before Marvel was twisted into the path of a third bolt, instantly ending the conflictIn a subtle nod to DC Comics story Kingdom Come. Background Information Captain Marvel was originally a character created by C.C. Beck of Fawcett Comics to compete directly with DC's Superman comics. Marvel debuted in Whiz Comics #2 in 1939. The character proved to be so popular that sales eventually exceeded that of the character Fawcett had plagiarized, and in fact at one time Captain Marvel's books were the best selling comics in the world, with monthly sales in the millions at his peak. Captain Marvel is imbued with the the powers of several historical and mythical figures: * 'S'olomon (wisdom) * 'H'ercules (strength) * 'A'tlas (stamina) * 'Z'eus (power) * 'A'chilles (courage) * 'M'ercury (speed) It is presumed that Captain Marvel's DCAU origin at least resembles that of the comics version: orphan Billy Batson is led to a strange underground cavern by a bizarre-looking subway train. There he meets the wizard Shazam, who grants Billy the power to fight for justice as "Captain Marvel," simply by speaking the wizard's name. Legal Trivia The name "Captain Marvel" has been the source of many legal battles between DC and rival Marvel Comics for obvious reasons. For this reason, almost every DC book featuring the "Fawcett Marvels" has instead been published with the word "Shazam" somewhere in the title. This has had an interesting side effect: since the character's appearance is well-known to the general public, and since the name "Captain Marvel" is so rarely used to label the character, many people (if not most) believe that the super-hero's actual name is indeed "Shazam." Trivia There were at least two reported instances where Captain Marvel was meant to appear on the DCAU. The first one was during the Superman: The Animated Series run: The other one was on "Hereafter", to replace a seemingly dead Superman: Although Captain Marvel never appeared onscreen until "Clash", a slightly older Billy Batson makes a cameo appearance in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Obsession." Billy can be seen among the reporters covering the fashion show early in the episode. Appearances and References Justice League Unlimited * "Clash" * "Question Authority" Footnotes External Links * * *Captain Marvel Culture — The history and cultural significance of the many Captain Marvels *Captain Marvel at the Guide to the Mythological Universe Category:Ability to fly Marvel Category:Justice League members Category:Superheroes